The Best Things
by Extraordinarily Extraordinary
Summary: The best things in life are not things. The best things in life are the people who love you, the people you love. They're the life you want to live, the things you believe in. **Sequel to Something To Tell The Kids** Rated T just in case. CHAPTER 9 IS UP
1. Prologue: Family

**A/N: Hey there guys! This is a could-be sequel to Something To Tell The Kids. Yes, that's right. You did just read that. I didn't plan this but it kind of happened so I'm going to see where I go from here.**

******DISCLAIMER: I own nothing that you recognize.  
SPOILERS: Has spoilers (kind of) for Something To Tell The Kids. That's my other story which can be found on my page.  
********WARNING: Contains hospitals, journals, and almost birthday parties.**

******Hope you like it!**

* * *

_My name is Hailey - Hailey Grace Braddock. I'm nine years old today. It's going to be the best day ever! We're having a party tonight with my whole family, even the people who aren't actually my family. But Mom and Dad tell me that they're as much family as anyone else._

_And most of them are police officers. There's my Uncle Spike. He's a bomb guy and his job is very dangerous but he's really good at it. There's also my Uncle Greg. He's the SRU sergeant. He's kind of the big boss guy. Uncle Wordy used to be on the team but he moved to a different team. He's still very good friends with them all though, so he's my uncle. His wife, Shelley, is my aunt. My Uncle Ed (who is also my godfather) is the Team Leader. That means he's second in command. Uncle Ed's wife is Sophie and she's my godmother and my aunt. Uncle Raf is another member of the team. He's just so much fun! The fifth member of the team is my Aunt Megan. She and Dad grew up together and they were always best friends until Dad met Mom and fell in love. Mom and Dad are both on Team One as well. That's how they met. It's the one thing they love more than anything, besides each other and their family._

_Mom is pregnant though. She's getting really big. She's having twins. I think that they're an accident because I overheard Mom telling my Aunt Darcy that it was such a surprise. _

_Oh, right. There's Aunt Darcy and Aunt Jill too. They're Mom's friends here in Toronto. Aunt Courtney and Aunt Abigail live back in the Hat. _

_Mom has a ton of brothers too. There's Uncle Nathan, Uncle Spencer, Uncle Nick, and Uncle Donald. And their wives - Aunt Emma, Aunt Lil, and Aunt Zoe. Uncle Nick isn't married. Their kids are my cousins. There are too many to name though._

_Dad has a sister. She's Aunt Natalie. She's not married, just like Uncle Nick isn't._

_Most of these people will be at my party tonight. All the ones who live in Toronto anyway. So, everyone except Aunt Courtney, Aunt Abby, and Mom's family. _

_But that's okay. We're going to Alberta for Christmas this year so I'll get to see them all then. _

_'We' is Mom, Dad, me and my brother Ryan. And, I guess, the twins. Mom and Dad won't tell us if they're boys or girls or both. And they won't tell us their names either._

_Ryan isn't too happy about them coming. He says he likes being the youngest. I don't really remember ever being the youngest since Ryan is only about two years younger than me. But he's been the youngest for seven years. It's always been the two of us. It'll be weird having more siblings but I think I'll get used to it. And I'll make sure Ryan ends up okay with it too. That's my job, as the older sister. I have to look out for my brother. He's only seven._

Hailey closes her journal and rests it down on her bed. She can hear talking from the room across the hall but she doesn't know who's there.

Being the curious young girl that she is, she heads straight over. It's the nursery. The room is painted a pale blue with clouds on the ceiling. There's a change table, a dresser, a closet, and two cribs. Everything that a baby needs, or two need.

"Hey Mom," Hailey says as she enters the room. "Everything okay?"

"Just fine," Jules turns to see her daughter. Her stomach is bigger than ever.

"Okay!" Hailey smiles. "Where's Ry?"

"I think he's just downstairs. Why don't you go look for him?" she suggests, smirking a little.

"Fine," Hailey sticks her tongue out.

She's halfway down the stairs when she hears her mother gasp. She rushes straight back up to the nursery and finds her mother holding her stomach.

"Get your Dad. The babies are coming."

* * *

_I'm sitting in the hospital now. It's boring. Mom is in a room. She's having the babies. Aunt Natalie says she's in labour and that it could take a long time. I don't know what that means exactly but I hope she's done before my party._

_Everyone who is going to be at my party is in the hospital right now. Dad is with Mom. The rest of us are just sitting around. Ryan is playing a video game or something. _

_That's one thing me and Ryan don't do together. I don't like playing video games. I think they're boring, and some of them are SO violent!_

_The clock says it's only two hours until my party is supposed to start. I don't think we're going to make it._

She shuts her diary again and puts in on the chair she's sitting in. Hailey gets up and walks to the other side of the waiting room. It's pretty small so the only people in there are the people waiting for her mom.

"How long do you think it'll take?" she asks her Aunt Shelley.

"It could be a while, baby," Shelley responds. "We might have to do your party another day."

Hailey frowns.

"I know you were looking forward to it," her Aunt Sophie says. "But think about this! You'll get to share a birthday with the twins! That's cool, right?"

Hailey smiles, "I didn't think about that! That would be so cool!"

Sophie and Shelley grin at each other, happy with their distracting job.

"We could have parties together! And there would be so much cake! There would be three cakes for three people!" Hailey says excitedly. "And everyone would sing so loud for us all! I think that'll be so much fun!"

It's a while before Sam comes out and tells them things are going great but it will still be a while. By that point, Hailey and Ryan are getting tired.

"Do you two want to go home?" he asks them.

Ryan is too sleepy to respond but Hailey shakes her head no.

"I want to stay and see the babies," she mumbles.

"Okay," Sam agrees and turns to the rest of the room, "You guys can go home, you know. We'll call with news."

After that, he heads back into the hospital room. A few of them take his advice. Shelley, Wordy, Sophie, Ed and Greg all get up to go home. Raf and Spike agree to stay a little longer. But Natalie is planning to stay until they're born. She wants to see them, and she's supposed to be watching Hailey and Ryan.

"You guys can stay here, but you should try to sleep," she tells her niece and nephew.

"But I want to see the babies," Hailey whines.

"You will," Natalie says. "I promise, I'll wake you as soon as they're born. So if you go to sleep now, you'll be more awake when you get to see them."

"Okay," sleepy Hailey agrees and she closes her eyes.

* * *

When Sam finally comes out to tell them that they're done, Hailey and Ryan are asleep. The only person left is Natalie. She leans over and brushes Hailey's hair from her face.

"Wake up, Hailey," she whispers in the girl's ear. "Wake up."

"Why?" asks Hailey, her eyes are still shut but she's awake.

"You have twin siblings," Natalie tells her.

Hailey's eyes snap open and she grins. "Really? Ryan! Ryan, wake up! Wakey-wakey!"

Ryan turns over on the chair he passed out in.

"What?" he asks angrily.

"Come on!" Hailey jumps up and down. "We have brothers! Or sisters!" She turns to her dad, "What do we have?"

"A brother and a sister," he answers. "Come on."

Ryan seems to get over his disappointment at not being the youngest because he bounces after his father and sister. His aunt in behind him and he's excited about this.

"Hey guys," Jules smiles weakly at them when they enter. "Did the others all leave?"

Natalie nods, "A while ago. It was late."

"Good," Jules smiles. "Good." She turns to her son and her daughter. "You want to see?"

They nod in unison, excitedly.

"This is Olivia," Jules nods down at the baby in her arms. "And your Dad is holding Lucas."

"Beautiful names," Natalie tells her sister-in-law. "Middle names?"

"Well, Sam and I each picked one. Coincidentally, we didn't plan it, he chose for hers to be Olivia Julianna," Jules tells them. A smile grows on her face and she chuckles, "And I picked Lucas Samuel."

"You guys are too alike," Natalie grins. "And so in love. They're gorgeous."

"Do we have the same birthday?" Hailey asks excitedly.

"Hey, baby," Jules pulls her towards the bed. "Come here. I'm sorry we missed your birthday and your party. But they were actually born just after midnight. So they're birthday is the day after yours."

Hailey's face falls. Then she smiles, "That's still cool!"

"I love you Mommy," Ryan whispers into his mother's hair as he leans into her as well. "And I love my brother and sisters."

"Big happy family," Natalie grins. She pulls out a camera, "Photo moment!"

She snaps a picture of a tired Jules in bed, holding baby Olivia. Sam is sitting in the chair next to the bed with Lucas in his arms. Hailey is leaning across the bed with her mother's arm wrapped around her back, and Ryan is curled up in the bed beside his mother and his father.

"I'll kill you, Natalie," Jules mutters.

* * *

**A/N: So this is the prologue to the sequel. You should know that I never planned on writing a sequel but I opened a new document and this kind of just happened. I'm almost positive that there will be more to this. I mean, it could work as a one-shot but I am planning more. It'll all depend on my inspiration. **

**It'll also depend on your reviews. If you review a lot, maybe I'll be more persuaded to continue. As I said for Something To Tell The Kids, 5 reviews gets another chapter. So review and tell me if you want more or not!**

**The rest of the story will most likely NOT have the journal entries. I just thought that was a good way to refresh people's minds and introduce everyone.**


	2. Goodnight

**A/N: Here's the second chapter, which is actually the first since the one before this was the prologue. Anyway. Hailey and Ryan were introduced in Something To Tell The Kids so I used to prologue to introduce Olivia and Lucas. This chapter skips ahead three years. So, Hailey is twelve, Ryan is about nine, and the twins are three. It's mostly just a chapter to get started. Not much plot or text, lots of dialogue. But it's needed to get everything moving.**

**Oh, and I switched to present tense for this chapter. The rest of the story will be present as well.**

**And sorry if it's a little short. Like I said, it's just to get the rest of the story moving.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing that you recognize - that includes Skype.  
****WARNING: Contains bedtime, swear jars, and Skype.**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

_**About Three Years Later**_

"MOM!"

The yell echoes throughout the entire Braddock house. It's the third time in less than half an hour. The oldest son could just not get to sleep.

"What now, Ryan?" Jules Braddock comes into his room.

"The light is too bright," he answers.

"Too bright? Before it wasn't bright enough! Ryan, just go to sleep!" Jules rolls her eyes, trying to make sure her son doesn't see.

"I saw that Mom! You have to put a quarter in my swear jar," he tells her.

"Rolling your eyes isn't swearing, Ry," she replies, forcing herself to not roll them again.

"It is when me or Hailey do it!" he argues and she gives in.

"I'll go right now and put a dollar in, okay?" she says and he grins. "Are you going to sleep now?"

He nods and she sighs, leaving his room and heading downstairs to drop a loonie in Ryan's jar.

Each member of the family has a jar. If you swear (or roll your eyes), you put money into the jar, or jars, of the people present at the time. So since she rolled her eyes in front of Ryan, it was his jar gaining an extra dollar.

"Is he finally going to go to sleep?" Sam comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her.

Jules leans back in the embrace and shrugs her shoulders, "I hope so. I am so tired."

"Maybe we should have him talk to somebody," Sam suggests. "He's been like this for over a month, you know. Maybe there's something wrong, more than just not sleeping. I mean, Jules, he's nine years old. This shouldn't be this bad."

"I know," sighs Jules, turning to face her husband. "But I just wish -"

"Yeah," he says. "Me too."

"Remember when Izzy was having those nightmares? Ed and Soph had her talk to somebody, right?" Jules says. "We could talk to them and see if he was any good."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Sam says. "How did I get so lucky to find such a smart woman?"

"I'm not always smart," she laughs. "I mean, I agreed to marry you. And have your kids."

"Not funny," he teasingly frowns. "But somehow, between the two of us, our kids all turned out alright."

She snorts, "Don't ask me how!"

"Well, maybe we just got lucky," Sam suggests.

"Four times over?" she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah," he nods. "And I should make you give me a dollar. You just rolled your eyes at me!"

"What if...I give you something else?" she raises her eyebrows suggestively.

"MOMMY!"

Jules closes her eyes and groans. She falls back into Sam and he holds her while she gathers the energy to return upstairs.

"At least it's not Ryan?" Sam tries to help.

It doesn't work.

"Why don't they ever call for you?" she asks. "Why is it always me?"

"You're the mom. I don't know," he shrugs. "Come on, I'll go see her with you."

Together they head back up the stairs to the room that the twins share. It's the biggest room but it's getting a bit small for the two of them to share. And they're getting a little too old. They have a spare but they haven't had the chance to switch rooms around yet.

"What's up Olivia, baby?" Jules whispers when she leans down to her daughter's bed.

"Water?"

"You just want a drink of water?" Sam asks. "Really, Liv? Really?"

She nods and the cuteness gets him. He leaves the room to fill a cup of water and brings it back to his baby girl.

"Thank you," she says as she sips at it. "I love you."

Jules can't help but smile at her daughter as well. She leans in to kiss her nose and say goodnight. Lucas is asleep already so she just presses a kiss to his forehead.

"What time is it?" she asks Sam once the door is shut to the twins' room.

"Almost nine thirty. Time to get Hailey moving?" he says.

Jules nods and yawns. She's exhausted. The past few nights, she'd barely gotten any sleep and the past days had been busy at work.

"I'll do it," he offers. "You go to bed."

She smiles and leans up to kiss him, "You're the best. Love you."

"Night," he says. He heads down to their basement where he suspects Hailey is on the computer talking to her friends.

When he gets down there, Hailey is on the computer Skyping with somebody. He stays out of the way to avoid being on the screen and signals to her that it's time to log off.

"I got to go," she says. "See ya tomorrow, Jessie."

"Okay," Sam hears the reply from the computer. "Night Hails."

He watches his daughter log of the computer and stifle a yawn. Seeing her yawn causing him to as well. Yawns are contagious, after all.

"Tired?" she laughs. "Yeah, me too."

"You're almost a teenager, Hailey, you're always tired," he reminds her. "Ryan's been keeping us up."

"I'm twelve, Dad," she says. "That's basically is a teenager."

"You may be twelve, but you act like you're fifteen sometimes," he shakes his head. "You are too smart for your age."

"I know," she laughs. "How is Ryan tonight?"

"So far, he's only yelled for us about five times, I think. And by us, I mean your mom. He never calls for me," Sam says. "You don't know why he's been acting like this, do you?"

Hailey shakes her head, "No, sorry. I've tried to talk to him. But he's acting weird. I mean, we used to share everything. Not so much these days but...I thought he would talk to me."

"It's not you, Hailey," he says. "He's struggling with something. We just don't know what."

"I wish I did. I want to help him," she says. "But, anyway, I'm tired. Want to walk me upstairs?"

He nods and loops his arm through his first born's arm. They walk up the stairs together in silence. It's not an awkward silence. Hailey and Sam have a connection that stemmed from before she was even born. It started the night he proposed to Jules. They didn't know each other but that was the first time he'd ever loved someone unconditionally like that without knowing a single thing about them.

Of course, he'd felt that way for Ryan, Olivia, and Lucas. And he loved them all the same. But Hailey was the first. She was his baby.

"Night Dad," she kisses his cheek as they walk past her room. She goes in and closes the door.

He knows he won't see her until they wake her up in the morning for school. He peers into Olivia and Lucas' room and is happy to see both are fast asleep. The glass of water sits on the floor, looking like she only took the one sip. He decides to leave it though, in case she wakes up again. Ryan has his door partway closed and Sam knows better than to move it. He doesn't want to mess anything up for his son who finally seems to be asleep.

He walks quietly towards his and Jules' room at the end of the hall. She's lying in bed but she's not asleep. He can tell by her breathing. It's far too rough and uneven for her to be asleep.

Quickly, he changes and brushes his teeth. Then he climbs into bed with her.

"Hailey's getting ready. The others seem to be asleep. Knock on wood," he whispers to her.

She opens her eyes and smiles, "You're the best."

"I know you are but what am I?" he jokes.

She rolls her eyes. It's dark and he can't actually see her, but he knows. She lets out a small chuckle and says, "I love you, you nutcase."

He smiles back at her and presses a sweet kiss to her lips. She sighs in contentment and closes her eyes, finally peaceful enough to sleep. He does the same.

And then Ryan yells again, "MOM!"

* * *

**A/N: Thoughts? Reviews? C'mon, you know you want to! I don't hate this but I don't love it. Let me know what you think? And don't say you have no opinion because everybody must have one thought in their brains right now. So please, just a five word review?**

**Not sure if I'll start the '5 reviews for a new chapter' rule quite yet since this story is new. But 5 reviews would be great! And that rule will be coming once this story starts getting more attention. It's new and unexpected right now so...**

**Hope you liked it!**


	3. In Love

**A/N: So, here is it. The long awaited third chapter. More should be coming soon. This was originally going to go in a different direction. When I started going the way it is, I ended up making it a really long chapter to incorporate everything I wanted to say. So, to keep the chapters all at a similar length, I split it. So the next chapter is what was supposed to be the end of this. Though, really, they're just two separate chapters - no cliffhangers or anything.**

**********DISCLAIMER: I own nothing that you recognize.  
********WARNING: Contains boredom, hair gel, and confused little boys.**

**********Enjoy!**

* * *

The sun shines down on yet another beautiful day in the Toronto area. For the past week, it's been lovely weather, nothing to even hint at rain or cold.

It's also been oddly quiet on the police front. Only one hot call in the past four days is affecting the team. They're bored out of their minds as they sit around for yet another shift with nothing to do.

At least Ed and Greg are busy with some sort of big meeting. The only way they're leaving is if they get a hot call. And, at this rate, they'll be there all day.

"We could..." Spike starts to say.

"No," Sam groans. "No more working out, no more games, no more anything."

"What he said," Raf agreed.

"It might be a terrible thing to say, but I really wish somebody would get into some sort of trouble. Can't somebody pick today to take a hostage or something? I need something to happen," Jules complains.

"That is terrible," Sam says. "But I agree."

Even Winnie is bored at her desk out front. She's been spending an awful lot of time reading magazines lately. "I mean, this should be a good thing," she'd said the other day, "less crime. But what about us?"

What about us? What about them is right.

"Don't complain," Megan says, her eyes shut as she leans back in her chair. "It could be the opposite, and we could have a ton of hot calls coming in. How would you feel then?"

Jules sighs and nods in agreement, "Yeah, I suppose."

"So, moving on," Spike says. "Are you all going to Sophie's barbeque party thing tomorrow?"

"Course," Raf says. "Is anyone not?"

"I'll be there," Megan nods. "I have nothing else to do."

"Yeah, we're all coming too," Sam says, Jules nodding in agreement.

The rest of their shift continues in the same fashion, bored and tired with nothing to do. When they finally get released and are free to go, a hot call comes in. They jump at the opportunity but Team Four takes it, having just started their shift.

"Just our luck," Jules mutters on the way home.

"I know what you mean," Sam agrees. "But we would have been late getting home."

"But still..."

* * *

"Oh my god Ryan, can you just hurry up!" Hailey shouts up the stairs to her younger brother.

"I'm coming!" he yells from his room, causing Hailey to roll her eyes and get a look from her father.

"Sorry," she says before he gets a chance to make her put money in the jar. "But he's taking so long."

Ryan has been getting ready for over twenty minutes. That's to say, twenty minutes after everyone else finished getting ready. Both Sam and Jules are downstairs, with the twins and Hailey, waiting in the living room for Ryan.

Jules sighs and says, "I'll go hurry him along. Sam, why don't you get them in the car?"

"Yeah, sure," he says, nodding at his wife. He knows. He knows what she means. She's going to talk to Ryan and see if she can figure out what's been bothering him for so long now. "Five minutes?"

"Hopefully," she nods and smiles in a way that says, 'Not likely.'

Sam heads out to their minivan. Each of his hands is being held but one of the twins. Lucas on his right, Olivia on his left. He helps them into the car and helps them buckle.

Or tries to.

"I can do it!" Olivia is shouting at him, swatting his hand away.

He allows her to buckle herself, and she does a good job, but Lucas lets him help so he leans over his son.

Once the youngest are in, Hailey climbs in and sits in her usual seat behind the driver, usually her father. Ryan will sit behind the passenger seat... if he ever shows up.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Jules knocks on Ryan's door, "Can I come in?"

He comes to the door and opens it. She has to hold back a laugh at the sight of him.

Ryan's hair is all gelled back. But it's so loaded with the stuff that it's practically green. It wouldn't have been as bad if he'd gotten his mother's brown hair instead of the blond from his dad. But it's a mess. She can smell something on him that could either be aftershave or cologne. She's not sure which but it's the smell she smells on Sam, so she knows where he got it at least. He's got his nice jeans on, even though the weather is warm. His shirt is tucked in, messily at the back, but he's only nine, and he tried.

"What's all this for?" she tries to sound like a friend, instead of a mother.

It doesn't work.

"You wouldn't understand," he says.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not a kid," he says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're a mom."

"That's true," she accepts the fact. "But I used to be a kid. And I know a lot more than you think I do. Try me? Tell me what's up?"

He thinks it over, she can practically see the gears in his head moving, and finally sits on the bed. He pats the spot next to him and she tentatively sits beside him, unsure if it'll scare him off from telling her.

He says nothing. She waits, not wanting to push, but he still does not speak.

"Ry?" he nudges his shoulder with hers. "What's up?"

He looks at her. He looks at her with the most serious face she has ever seen on the young boy. He stares straight into her eyes and he says, "I'm in love."

That was not what she was expecting to hear. She wasn't sure what she thought he was going to say, she had no idea, but that was not what Jules was expecting to hear from her little boy.

She waits a minute before she speaks, in fear of her voice cracking from surprise, "In love? With whom?"

"You don't know her," he says.

He's lying. Jules can tell, she has known him for nine years. That, and they're going to a barbeque full of people she knows, only people she knows.

"Ryan," she looks at him, deep into his eyes, trying to force an answer without actually saying it. It's a skill she learned back towards the beginning of her career.

He looks away and then back at her, "Izzy."

"Lane?" Jules can't even try to hide her shock this time. Izzy is older than Hailey. She's a teenager, she's fourteen!

Ryan nods solemnly, not noticing his mother's surprise, "Yeah."

"Ryan..." Jules says. She's trying to figure out how to talk to him without crushing his dreams. Because Izzy is five years older, and she is practically his cousin. Her parents are Hailey's godparents and they're 'Aunt Sophie' and 'Uncle Ed' and that's not normal. She wants to tell him this but that would risk breaking his heart. She avoids the word 'love' but she tries another approach, "Why do you like Izzy?"

"Because she's nice to me," he shrugs. "All the kids at school are mean and they make fun of me for everything. And Izzy is so nice. She listens to me and tells me stories about kids at her school. And she is so funny! Mom, she makes me laugh so much! And I like having fun with her."

"Ryan, that's fine," Jules says. "But that doesn't mean you're in love with her. You know that, right? Just because she's nice, you don't have to be in love. You can love her as a friend or a cousin even. Because, Ryan, she pretty much is your cousin."

"I can?" Ryan's relief seems so obvious that Jules is wondering how she missed it before.

"Of course, Ry. Izzy can be your friend without you being in love with her. Where'd you get that idea from?" Jules asks, because she's curious and she can't help wondering what made her son think he had to be in love with this girl just because she was nice to you.

"Anna at school said that people are nice to you if they're in love with you," he explains. "And then you have to be in love with them back because that's a nice thing to do. And I came home and you were nice to Dad and he was nice to you and I know you're in love because you're married and have kids."

She smiles at her son's thoughts. Sure, when she thinks about it, they would make perfect sense to a nine year old. She rubs his hair and feels the gel on it, "How about we wash some of this out?"

He nods, "It smells bad."

* * *

**A/N: So there you have it. Like I said, more should be up soon. 5 reviews will get it here faster. 5 reviews and it might be up tomorrow. Less than that, it'll be up in a few days.**

**Umm, I got a ton of reviews asking about Ryan in the last chapter. And yes, there's something... (I don't want to say 'wrong' but...) up with him. But this is not it. No, this is just a confused boy. I actually know that this happens because my cousin thought the same thing when he was this age. It's just one of those things - hear something at school and get confused. (He's now 23 and happily in a healthy relationship, if you were wondering). **

**You may have caught it, that Ryan said everyone picks on him? Yeah, that'll be important too. That DOES have something to do with what is 'up' with him. So, keep that in mind. Ryan's story and stuff will be in a few chapters and all will be explained.**

**So, until then, please leave a review?**

AND OMG! THE NEW EPISODE IS TONIGHT FOR THOSE OF YOU IN CANADA! I'M FREAKING OUT! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IN REVIEWS! - but no spoilers? If you want to tell me something that includes spoilers, PM me. Some people won't have a chance to watch it and I don't want to give anything away!


	4. Barbeque

**A/N: So, here is it. This is the second part of the chapter from before. I guess it's kind of just a chapter by itself. But, when I wrote it, it had been connected to chapter 3. Anywho, hope you like it.**

**Oh, and this is the annual Team One and family picnic. Same place as always, and it's the end of the school year so summer is coming. (I kind of made up that this picnic is always at the end of the school year, to celebrate summer and all!)**

**I couldn't remember anything about Wordy's kids being mentioned. I did a bit of research...but then I made up names for 4 girls: Hannah (22), Sadie (17), Allie (15), Katie (13).**

**********DISCLAIMER: I own nothing that you recognize.  
********WARNING: Contains a party, flying food, and funny stories.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

There are children. There are children everywhere. They're climbing trees, swinging on swings, splashing in the pond, and stuffing their faces with hot dogs and chips. They pay no attention to the adults, their parents, who are by a tree together, conspiring and gossiping about them.

Shelley is finishing her story about the adventures of raising a teenager when Sam remembers Ryan. He had asked Jules in the car what was up, but she had shaken her head no, telling him to wait until later.

"Right," Jules nods, glancing back to make sure her son was far enough away. "So I get up to his room and he's dressed up. Like, really, dressed up. He's got gel in his hair and some of Sam's cologne on. He looks like he could be going to church or a fairly fancy dinner party, not a backyard barbeque. At first, he refuses to tell me what's wrong but..."

She tells the story, getting appropriate chuckles and rolled eyes in all the right places. However, she saves the best part for the end of the story: who the girl is. She tells them everything else and what she said to him to make him understand, but saves that one part.

"So?" Sophie asks, resting her hand on Ed's shoulder. He's half barbequing, half listening. "Who is the lucky lady?"

"Lucky?" Jules asks. "Glad you think so, Soph. It's Izzy."

The burger Ed is flipping flies across the park and Sophie doubles over in laughter.

"HEADS!" they hear one of the kids yell across the yard to warn the others about the flying meat.

"My Izzy?" Sophie asks, choking it out through her laughter.

"The one and only," Jules smiles at her friend. "But, like I said, I straightened him out. As you can clearly see, he's dressed appropriately now."

"Well then..."

The conversation starts to die down after that, as Ed finishes with the burgers and dogs. Well, the rest of them. Everyone heads over to the tables to eat, forced to keep conversations kid friendly for a while.

"Aunt Megan," Izzy Lane says, "Can you pass the salad?"

Megan reaches over beside her and hands the bowl to the young teenager, "There you be."

Izzy chuckles and thanks the woman. Then she turns to her father, "Clark coming later?"

"He was hoping to," Ed answers. "He mentioned something about coming by with Dean later, but I haven't heard from him since yesterday, so that may have changed."

"What about Hannah?" Izzy turns to Wordy to ask him about his eldest daughter, Hannah, who had recently turned twenty-two.

"She said she wishes she could, but she won't be coming by today," Wordy shrugs. "You're lucky Sadie decided she could take time from her busy life to come."

"Hey!" seventeen year old Sadie rolls her eyes at her dad, "I wanted to come. There was no begging or forcing or complaining. I love this party!"

"Geez, Sadie, he was teasing," her mother sighs.

"Kids," Jules leans over to whisper in Shelley's ear and the woman nods in agreement.

"Can't live with them," she says.

"Can't live without 'em," Jules finishes and the two women laugh a little.

"Can I please be excused?" Izzy raises her hand to cut off the argument she can see forming between Sadie and Wordy.

"You done eating?" Sophie asks and Izzy nods. "Go ahead. Take some of the others with you."

"Thanks!" Izzy says. She gets up and pulls some of the others up with her, running off to the waterfront again.

"Careful!" Sophie shouts at her daughter, earning her a waved hand saying to not worry.

It's then that Sam remembers the conversation Jules and he had had the other night. He turns to Ed and says, "Remember when Izzy was having those nightmares?"

"Yeah," he nods. "What about them? That was years ago."

"Yeah, and you had her talk to somebody, right?" he continues. "Do you have the name of that person?"

"Sam. You're going to have to spell it out for all of us here who don't know what you're talking about," Spike cuts in.

"What he said," Ed nods in Spike's direction. "What are you on about?"

Jules steps in to help her husband, who seems to be having trouble explaining things, "Ryan. He's been having a tough time lately. I don't know what it is but it's something. I can feel it. And I think that we would both - all - feel better if we could just let him talk to somebody who might understand."

"Yeah, cause we sure as hell don't," Sam nods in agreement, silently thanking Jules by squeezing her hand under the table. He gets a small smile from her that goes unnoticed by the rest of the team. Luckily.

"Really?" Megan asks. "I would never have noticed. What do you mean, rough time, though? Like, bullies or something else?"

"Something else," Sam says.

"Although, no, when I was talking to him earlier, he said something about everyone at school being mean to him," Jules reminds them. "So it might be bullies."

"Sam had troubles with a bully when he was about Ry's age," Megan tells Jules. "This huge kid constantly picking on because he was this scrawny blond kid who didn't get on with his dad, who was a pretty important guy."

Megan and Sam grew up together, moving from place to place as their families moved. If anyone knew about Sam at age nine, it would be Megan.

"Really?" Jules asks. "Sam, you never said anything!" she playfully whacks him arm but Sam is too busy glaring at Megan to really take notice or pretend to be hurt, like usual.

"Sorry," Megan shrugs at him in a way that everyone knows she is not at all sorry.

"Well, like I said, I have no clue what's going on in his head," Jules says, moving away from Sam's troubled past. "But we wanted to know if you could give us the number of the guy you had Iz talk to?"

"Yeah, sure," Sophie nods. "I have it somewhere at home. I'll give to Ed and he can give it to you tomorrow at work or something."

"Thanks so much," Jules says.

The conversation becomes much more pleasant and cheerful after that. There's teasing and joking around that gives the air a peacefulness that has been missing for so long. Day-to-day lives suck the fun out of people. Sometimes, all you need, is one day of quiet and friends.

They stay at the park for a while longer. It's long past dark when they finally load up the van to drive home. Olivia and Lucas are just about passed out. Ryan is blinking more than normal, so he's tired too. Only Hailey is awake. But she's older, she's done this more.

They get home quickly. It's late so traffic is good. Olivia and Lucas end up going to bed in the same clothes they were wearing. Jules manages to get Ryan to change in his pyjamas and Hailey goes to her room and shuts her door.

"Maybe, if we're lucky," Jules whispers to Sam, answering his unspoken question of whether Ryan will fall asleep without any trouble tonight, seeing as how tired he is.

"Cross fingers," he whispers back, holding up his hand with his own fingers tightly crossed.

"Bed," she points to their room and pulls him after her.

And for the first time in about a month, Ryan doesn't call them. They finally get a chance to enjoy themselves without being interrupted.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know. It's not wonderful. But this IS the chapter that gets things going. They're going to have Ryan talk to somebody in the next chapter. The next few are going to be very Ryan-centric. I have plans for this story. I'm getting excited!**

**I only got 4 reviews for chapter 3. Hoping for 5 on this one. I think I'll be starting up my 5 reviews for a new chapter thing now. So, if I get 5 reviews, you'll get a new chapter. Less than 5 and you'll have to wait a week. That's how it'll work: 5 gets it right away, less than and you have to wait a week until you get it. But don't worry, it'll always come eventually!**

**And, like I said in the AN for the last chapter, please do NOT leave spoilers in reviews. If you want to talk spoilers, message (PM) me. I'm more than happy to talk. But, in case people read the reviews and haven't seen the episode, please don't talk about them in reviews.**

**So, still spoiler free: Did you see the preview for next week's episode?**


	5. Therapy

**A/N: I had trouble writing this chapter. I know I should have posted it ages ago but I was really having problems with it. Sorry. But here it is!**

**So, the main characters in this story are Jules, Sam, the team, Hailey, and Ryan. This chapter is a Ryan-centric one. Later chapters will focus on other characters. The twins are important but they aren't central to the story. They're just there because they are a part of the family. Because, I mean, they're 3 - how much of a storyline is there?**

**********DISCLAIMER: I own nothing that you recognize.  
********WARNING: Contains a therapy, popping balloons, and an answer.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hello Ryan," says Dr Andrew Coleman. "How are you today?"

Dr Andrew Coleman, renowned child therapist and expert in the business, is making Ryan uncomfortable. He doesn't like him, not at all. But he heard his parents talking about how important this meeting was. So he agreed, because he wanted them to be happy. And that's why he's going to pretend that this is not bothering him, and he's going to talk to this man. For his Mom and his Dad.

"Good," he answers shortly. He agreed to talk, not make huge conversation.

"That's good," the doctor says.

Ryan doesn't say anything. He has nothing to say to him.

"Ryan?" Coleman says, "Can you tell me a little bit about your family?"

Ryan nods. He could. He can. He doesn't want to. But he will.

"I have a Mom and a Dad. They're police officers and they help people. My sister is a few years older than me. She's twelve. Her name is Hailey. Mommy had twins three years ago. That's my younger brother and sister, Lucas and Olivia."

"That's a big family," the man says kindly. Too kindly. It's like he's talking to a puppy, not a little boy. "Do you have aunts or uncles?"

It's like he knows the answers already. He sounds like a teacher who asks questions they already have answers for. Teachers have tests. This is basically a test. Ryan hates tests.

"Yes," Ryan answers. He's good at answering questions without really answering questions. He does it all the time at school. He's gotten lots of practice. He can tell that the doctor wants him to talk about his aunts and uncles, but he didn't say that specifically, so Ryan doesn't answer the unspoken question.

* * *

Dr Coleman almost has to hide the smile on his face. This boy, Ryan, is smart. He's smarter than everyone seems to give him credit for. The way he answers questions, he could be a lawyer or some sort of politician. He has a knack of avoiding the question but still answering at the same time. It's a talent many would love to have.

Coleman manages to coax the information about his family out of him. Little by little, Ryan starts to reveal himself wholly. But even then, the doctor still isn't sure he's revealing everything.

"So, Ryan, your parents tell me you've been having trouble sleeping at night? What's that about?" he asks the boy.

Ryan shrugs, "The lights bother me."

"How do they bother you?"

Ryan shrugs again, "I don't know. Sometimes they're too bright or too dark. They bother my eyes and I can't sleep."

"I see," Coleman says, writing that down. If he is thinking of the right diagnosis, that is vital information. "Do other things bother you?"

"What do you mean?" the boy is on the defensive. His back straightens and he looks alert.

Coleman writes down his reaction and then explains his question more, "Do other things bother you? Things like loud noises or sudden movement?"

Ryan's spine slouches a bit again and he looks to his feet, sitting on his hands once again, and says, "Sometimes."

"Can you give me an example?"

He looks out the wide window to the side and stares at it intently for a few minutes. Coleman thinks he's trying to work out what to say without saying too much again. It takes a while but he eventually says, "At my friend's birthday party they were popping balloons, and that bothered me."

"Ryan, does that happen a lot?"

"Popping balloons? No," he shakes his head. "Only sometimes at parties."

"Not the balloons, no," Coleman tries to keep a straight face again, "I meant the being bothered by loud noises and bright lights. Does that bother you a lot?"

Ryan nods slowly, "Yeah, a lot. The bright lights bother me every night. The bell in school bothers me too, and the loud noises like sirens or something."

"Have you ever told anyone this before?" he asks.

Ryan shakes his head no and the doctor thanks him for talking today. He sends him out to the waiting room and calls in Sam and Jules.

* * *

"Hey Doctor Coleman," Jules says. "Thanks for meeting with him today. I just don't know what is up with him."

"I might," Coleman says. "But I have a few questions for you first, if that's okay?"

"Of course," Sam agrees. "Whatever you need."

"Ryan explained to me how he feels about the bright lights and other things like that. But I wanted to ask you, how long has this been going on?"

"A few months?" Sam says, looking at Jules for confirmation. She nods and he continues, "It was pretty sudden, starting a few months ago, yeah."

"Has Ryan ever talked to you about this?" Coleman asks.

"No," Jules says. "We've tried, we have, but he doesn't want to talk about it. Not with me or Sam. He won't even talk to his sister and they've been really close since he was born."

"Okay," Coleman makes another note in his book. "I think we're going to need to run a few psychological tests on Ryan, but my best guess is that Ryan is something that people call - for lack of a better term - a highly sensitive person. Now, this is not a disorder or a disease, it's simply a trait."

"I've never heard of it," Jules says.

Coleman goes on to explain the details, causes and symptoms of this to Sam and Jules. The two listen intently, wondering how they could have possibly missed this in Ryan.

"This basically means that Ryan is more aware of his surroundings, and is therefore easily overwhelmed by them," the doctor finishes his explanation.

Sam and Jules stare at him in silence. Eventually, Sam breaks the silence and says, "It's nothing bad though?"

"No, of course not," Coleman shakes his head. "It'll be easy to live with. There is medication that can make things less overwhelming. But that's not something to be done every day. I suggest only using the medication when he is in a particularly bad situation that is causing him to panic more than normal."

They thank the doctor and schedule a date to do a few more tests that will make sure of the Coleman's preliminary diagnosis. As they pay at the front desk, both of them are relieved.

"He's okay though?" Jules sighs a breathe of relief. "Oh thank god. We'll deal with this. We'll make it work. Now that we know what it is..."

"We'll make it work," Sam finishes. "We always do."

* * *

**A/N: So there you have it. You know what's up (because I am not using the word 'wrong') with Ryan. It's nothing bad! Anyway, hope you liked it! Please leave a review? 5 reviews will get a new chapter quickly. If not, I hope to have the next one up within a week. But if I get 5/five reviews, it'll be up even faster!**


	6. HSP

**A/N: Before I start this chapter, there is something I would like to address. It's a very important topic to me and I felt very victimized by the reviews for the previous chapter. **

**I received many reviews saying that they didn't think that what Ryan has is a real thing. It is. It's completely real. In fact, I have the same thing. I drew on my own experience to create this storyline for Ryan. And to have all of you saying it doesn't sound real is a little bit hurtful. And most of them weren't even review-reviews. They were anonymous. I leave the anonymous option open because I know people like to review without an account. But I might turn it off now. You can't even face it. You hide behind the anonymity of it. That's cowardly. However, I've lived with it since I was about five, so I'm used to the criticism.**

**Now, this chapter was going to be moving on to other stuff. Because of all those reviews, I'm going to focus on HSP again. So, this chapter is basically Sam and Jules explaining things to Hailey and Ryan. **

**Anyway, moving on...please enjoy!**

* * *

The car ride home is full of small and awkward chatter. All three are trying to stay off the topic of Ryan's therapy session. The car is not a good place for that talk. But home has never been so far away.

When they finally make it home, Ryan tries to go straight to his room. But Sam is too fast for him.

"Get back here, bud," he calls. Then he goes in search of Ed and Sophie, who they had called to watch the twins. "Ed? You there?"

"Downstairs," comes the reply.

Sam heads down to the basement and finds Ed in a headlock. Hailey's arms are wrapped around his neck and Izzy has his hands pinned down. Olivia and Lucas are laughing hysterically.

"Where's Soph? Can't imagine she left you like this," Sam laughs, pulling Hailey off his teammate.

"She went to pick up Clark from the airport. After she left, these two," he jabs his finger towards the two girls, "ganged up on me. Your daughter? She is _scary _strong."

"I know," Sam pulls Hailey into a bear hug. "I've trained her well."

"It's true," Hailey smirks at her godfather. "You've all trained me well."

"Ahh, and the student becomes the master," Ed laughs. "You did good."

"What about me?" Izzy interjects. "Didn't I do good?"

"Well," Hailey corrects automatically. She winces, "Sorry."

"You both did _well," _Ed rolls his eyes. "Well, if you're home, we can get going? Clark and Soph should be home soon. Might as well try and beat them there?"

Izzy nods, "Yeah! Let's go! Come on Dad!"

"Iz, say goodbye to everyone," Ed says.

Izzy does and she and Ed leave. Clark has been travelling for a while now, doing odd jobs all across Europe. It's obvious that Izzy is missing her brother, which makes sense of her anxiousness to leave.

"Ryan good?" Hailey turns to her father after they leave.

"He's not bad," Sam answers. "Here, come with us to the kitchen. We'll talk? All of us?"

"Yeah," Hailey nods, "Meet you there. I'm just going to set up a movie for the two of them?" She tilts her head towards her younger brother and sister, who have been watching the entire exchange in silence.

"Good idea," Sam presses a kiss to her head and heads back upstairs to the kitchen, where Jules and Ryan and no doubted waiting for him.

* * *

"How was talking with Dr Coleman?" Jules asks Ryan just as Sam is coming into the kitchen again.

Ryan shrugs and Jules sighs. Sam comes over and she whispers to him that Ryan hasn't said a word.

"Hey buddy," Sam says. "Want to talk?"

Ryan shrugs again.

"What if Hailey joins us?" Sam asks. "Is that okay?"

Ryan looks at the door, waiting for his sister, and then he nods.

"She'll be here in a minute," Sam tells his son.

There's an awkward silence while they wait for Hailey. It seems like she is going to be the peacekeeper today.

"Hey, I'm here! Woah..." Hailey says as she enters the kitchen. "Everything okay?"

"Hailey," Ryan smiles at his sister.

Sam and Jules share a look - his first word and smile in over an hour. How does she do it? Hailey always seems to be able to get Ryan to cheer up, no matter what is wrong.

"Hey Ry," she smiles at him. She's always had a sensitive spot when it comes to him. "How was it?"

Ryan shrugs, "Alright. He was nice, I guess." He turns to his parents and asks, "What did he say about me after I left? Did he tell you what's wrong with me?"

"Ryan, Ryan, Ryan," Jules grinned at her son. "You're smarter than you act, you know that?"

Ryan nods, "Yeah. Mom? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you, buddy," Sam says. "Dr Coleman told us that he thinks you might be what people call a highly sensitive person."

"What's that mean?" Hailey interrupts. The she catches the look on her father's face: "You were just about to tell us...sorry, continue."

"Like I was about to say," Sam starts again. "Dr Coleman said that it's called HSP. And it just means highly sensitive person. It's not a disorder, so there is nothing wrong with you. He told us all about it. It's a trait that is actually found in 15-20% of the population."

"What?" Ryan says, clearly confused.

"Look at it this way," Jules tries to explain, "If there were 100 people in a room, chances are that anywhere from 15 to 20 of them are highly sensitive."

"I've never met anyone else like this though," Ryan shakes his head. "It's just me."

"That's not true," Sam says. "And, even if it were, there is nothing wrong with you."

"Dad, I still don't get what it is," Hailey says. "And, judging by the look on his face, I don't think Ryan does either."

"Okay," Sam scratches his chin, "How do I explain it?"

"Basically, your brain processes things differently than other people. You are so in tune with the things around you. You notice things other people don't and you everything you see is stored in your brain. You think of things more deeply than others do. So, you see a bright light or you hear a loud noise and that is overwhelming to you because you are already so aware of your surroundings. You pick up on the little things because that is just how your brain works," Jules explains, using the words that Dr Coleman had said to them less than an hour ago.

"And you do better when you get a chance to think about things in your head without people pressuring you," Sam adds. "But, being stuck with your own thoughts can bother you too. You over think things and let your mind get carried away."

"That happens to me," Ryan says. "All of that."

"And that is why Dr Coleman thinks you might be like that. Not bad, just different," Jules smiles at her son. "Do you understand?"

"I think so," Ryan smiles. "And lots of people are HSPs? Is that what they call me? HSP?"

"HSP works," Sam nods.

"Dr Coleman said that they have found HSPs in a ton of different species. There are obviously HSP humans, but they've found that animals can be highly sensitive too. I think he said that things as small as fruit flies or big as horses can be highly sensitive," Jules adds. "That's kind of cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Ryan smiles. "Yeah, that's really cool!"

"So you're okay with all of this?" Jules asks. Ryan nods and she continues, "Sometimes, when things are particularily bothering you, there is medicine you can take. But that's only for every once in a while, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ryan smiles. "Can I go upstairs now?"

"Sure," laughs Jules. She's just so happy to see Ryan happy again. It's been a while, too long.

"Oh, wait, one more thing," Sam says just as Ryan gets out of his chair. Ryan leans on the table to listen to his dad talk. "If things are ever bothering you, feel free to change things. We're going to talk to your teachers too, okay? We'll let them know what to do and how to help. That sound good?" Ryan nods.

"Go upstairs," Jules smiles. "Just promise you'll let us know if it ever bothers you. Whether it's sound or smell or the lights?"

"I will!" Ryan says. "Hails, you want to come up with me?"

Hailey smiles too, "Yeah, be right up."

Ryan runs off to his room and Hailey sticks around.

"That's it? He's HSP?" Hailey asks.

Her parents nod, "Yeah, that's it. You'll keep an eye on him though, right?"

"Always do," Hailey shrugs and smiles. "I'm gonna go now? Liv and Lucas are watching TV downstairs."

She runs off to, heading to her brother's room.

"Hailey," Ryan says. "Pull up a controller. I'm going to beat your pants off."

"What are we playing?" she asks, sitting down beside him.

"Mario Cart," he answers. "Ready for it? Ready...Set...Go!"

They race like they've done many times before. And, as always, Hailey almost wins but Ryan ends up with the first place prize. And, no, she did so _not _let him win. Not at all.

"I did it!" he shrieks. "In your face Hailey!"

"Yeah, yeah you did, Ry," she laughs and ruffles his hair. "You're one special boy."

* * *

**A/N: And, ending on a happy note, this chapter comes to a complete. Next one will be up once I get 5 reviews! Or in a week or so...whichever comes first!**

**And, yes, all that information in this chapter was true - even the part about the fruit flies. **


	7. Back To School

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You don't know how much they mean to me! The last chapter was sometime early summer but this one skips ahead to the start of school, so September. **

**And I am SO SO SO sorry for how long it has been. I really struggled with this chapter. And I apologize in advance for it...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing you recognize. If I did, I would not be writing fanfiction.  
WARNING: Contains back to school, bonding, and that's kind of it...**

* * *

When the school bus pulls up to the end of the street, Hailey and Ryan climb on. They wave goodbye to their parents and sit down next to their friends like they did every day last year and they will do every day this year.

"Good summer?" the driver calls back.

"Yeah, you?" Hailey yells up.

"Fantastic," he gives them a thumbs up, closes the door, and drives off.

Hailey and Ryan are the second last stop before they get to the school so it's not too long of a drive. But it's long enough for them.

When they get to school and go their separate ways, Hailey rushes over to Ryan quickly.

"Hey, Ry? Have a good day, okay?" she puts her hands on his shoulders. "Your teachers know but the kids in your class don't. And they don't need to, okay? Don't tell them unless you are absolutely sure you don't mind them knowing. And, if anything happens, you know where to find me. My homeroom is room three-oh-two. Go to the office if you can't find me."

"Hailey, I know," he drones. "I got this. But thanks."

"Anytime little bro," she smiles at him. "See you later!"

She runs back to her friends who are waiting for her.

"What was that about?" her friend Jessie asks her.

"Oh, nothing," Hailey shrugs. "Family stuff. No big deal, I swear."

"Whatever," Jessie says. "Ready for the first day of seventh grade?"

"Nope," Hailey sighs. "Let's go."

The school day passes quickly and without any major news. Nothing new is learned on the first day. Schedules are handed out, names are learnt, books are assigned.

* * *

When Hailey and Ryan get home, their parents are already there with the twins.

"We got off early," Jules smiles. "Want to do something tonight? Dinner?"

"Yeah!" Hailey says. "Let's do something."

"What do you want to do?" Sam asks the two eldest children.

"I don't know," they both shrug in unison.

Sam gives his kids a over dramatic glare, "That's helpful."

His voice is dripping in sarcasm but only Hailey hears it. She rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulders again, "I don't know what we should do. Let's just do dinner or something?"

"Yeah? Dinner sounds good to me," Jules says. "Where?"

Hailey and Ryan exchange looks again. "I don't know."

* * *

The night passes and with the darkness, they return home. After an evening full of laughter and talking, Hailey is exhausted. Sam walks her and Ryan to their rooms as Jules takes the twins. They drop Ryan off and continue down the hall towards Hailey's room.

"You look tired. Long day?" Sam asks.

Hailey shrugs, "Just re-adjusting to school, I guess. This year already looks like it's going to be harder."

"Well, that's the point, isn't it? Each year, school get harder, but you get smarter?" Sam pokes his daughter's shoulder. Hailey rolls her eyes at her dad. "Hey, I should make you put money in the swear jar."

"You should," Hailey nods. "But you won't, considering eye rolling is a trait I got from you."

Sam purses his lips, "Fine. Get some sleep Hails. See you in the morning."

* * *

**A/N: Really really short. I know! Please don't kill me! I have a ton of ideas for the rest of the story but I could not for the life of me figure out this one little chapter. And it's just a filler chapter so it doesn't matter too much, I guess. Anyway, please let me know what you think? I promise, the next chapter will be up sooner than this one was!**


	8. Birthdays

**I am SO sorry. The lack of Sam/Jules in the previous season five episodes has really been affecting my inspiration. But last night's episode sparked it again. So I got writing and I should have the next few chapters up in good time. Hopefully one every week at least.**

**OKAY! I'm about to fangirl about the most recent episode (We Take Care Of Our Own) so don't read if you haven't seen it! I can't believe it. It was so amazing! Jules is preggers! Yeah, that really helped with this story, considering that's how it all started here. I know that people have said that her getting pregnant would ruin the show, but the series is on its final season (sad, I know) and I don't think it will ruin it. She will stay on the team until the end and maybe at the very end we'll get to see them with the baby! Imagine how amazing it would be to have a picture perfect family ending with the whole team and all their families and a new baby and it would be amazing! **

**Okay, I'm done. So I am pretty sure that Hailey was born in the Spring or something but for the purposes of this story, she's about to have her birthday - so sometime in the fall? And...ready, set, read away!**

**DISCLAIMER: Still don't own it...  
WARNING: Contains upset kids, and conversations with Mom.**

* * *

"MOMMY!"

"MOMMA!"

"BE QUIET!"

Hailey grunts in frustration at her brothers and sister. Lucas and Olivia are upset about something...again, and Ryan is yelling at them for being loud...again. She understands the twins, since they're upset - she doesn't know why - and she understands Ryan, since he struggles with things like loud noises even though he might not want to. It's just hard. So she can't go out there and pick sides or tell either of them to just shut up. No matter how much she wants to.

She just hopes her parents can calm down Olivia and Lucas soon. Because she has a tiny bit of homework left and then she wants to sleep. Sleep. Something she's started to miss with school starting up again.

"MOMMY!"

That's it. She can't take it anymore. She should just storm out of her room and shout. She knows that's what Jessie would do. But she's not Jessie.

"Hey Liv, Luke," she goes into the twins room softly. "Is Mommy taking too long?"

Olivia nods, "I need Mommy."

"What's wrong, baby? Why do you need Mommy?" she keeps her voice calm and soft. It's surprisingly easy. They may be annoying most of the time, but she adores the two kids.

"We was fight about party," Olivia explains. "My party!"

"Party! Party!" Lucas laughs. "Spiderman party!"

"Princess party!" Olivia argues. "My party!"

"My party!"

Oh jeez. Hailey tries to refrain from the eye rolling. Bad habits have a way of picking on her.

"It's both your party," she tells them. "And all your friends from preschool are going to come and there will be cake and balloons. It's going to be a spiderman _and _princess party!"

She doesn't tell them that they're going to have to share their birthday for the rest of their lives. She also doesn't tell them that when they have the family party and invite all the grown-ups, they're going to have to share the night with her as well. She's learned to live with sharing with them, they'll learn too.

Hailey hears footsteps behind her and she turns to see her mother arriving. Jules mouths a sorry in Hailey's direction and she smiles before excusing herself back to her bedroom. They're her mother's problem now.

"Hey babies," Jules stands in the doorway.

"Mommy!" Olivia shrieks. "What you took so long?"

"I'm sorry, honey, I was in the basement with Daddy," she explains. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Lucas tells her. "Hailey fixed-ed it."

"Hailey fixed it?" Jules asks and the twins both nod. "Okay, good. You two go to bed now, okay?"

"Okay Mommy," they chorus and Jules leaves their room.

With the twins calm and falling asleep, Jules tiptoes across the hall to Hailey's room. She knocks on the door softly. She hears Hailey call out a yeah, and she says through the door, "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Hailey says. Her mother opens the door. "Everything okay?"

Jules nods, "Yes. Hailey -"

A moment of silence passes before Hailey says, "Yeah...?"

"I don't know what we'd do without you," her mother smiles at her. "You help so much, you don't complain."

"And to think I was a mistake!" jokes Hailey.

Jules laughs, but turns serious again, "I mean it Hails." She takes a seat on her daughter's bed. "You were a wonderful surprise, not a mistake."

"But I wasn't planned, you weren't even married," Hailey says. "That's a mistake Mom. I don't care, it doesn't bother me, but you don't have to deny it."

"Okay, okay," she says. "You were a mistake. But from the moment we found out, we wanted you and we've loved you since the test said positive."

"Mom, why are you telling me this? I know that," she says. "I know that you love me. Besides, it's kind of cool that I got to go to my parent's wedding. Not many other kids get to say that."

"Not that you remember anything from it," Jules laughs.

Hailey smiles sweetly, "No, but I've heard so much, and I've seen the video... you guys had the best wedding ever."

"One day, yours will be even better," Jules assures her. "One day Hailey Grace, you will beat us for best wedding."

There's an eye roll from Hailey and her mother almost opens her mouth to make her put money in the jar but Hailey glares her down. "Maybe, yeah. But I'd have to find a guy first."

"Hailey, you are only twelve. You will find a guy, I promise," Jules says.

"Almost thirteen," Hailey smiles. "A couple weeks!"

Jules groans, "Don't remind me. You make me feel so old."

Hailey shrugs, "If it helps, you're still younger than Uncle Ed, or Uncle Greg?"

"Doesn't help much," Jules purses her lips. "Are you excited about your party?"

"Yeah," Hailey smiles. "It'll be small though, which is fine with me. I mean, I love my friends, but I'm not one for birthday parties really. I'm more looking forward to having the whole family over for dinner and celebrating then."

"You sure don't act like a twelve - or thirteen - year old," Jules says. "You're far too mature. You need to loosen up Hailey."

"I've been told, but it's not going to happen Mom," smirks the girl. "I like being mature, gets me more trust and respect."

"And you are too smart as well," her mother frowns. "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you. I'll let you finish up your homework now. Go to bed in good time, promise?"

"Always do Mom," Hailey grins at her. "Night, love you."

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**Thoughts? It was longer than the last but not the longest. I don't love, but I don't hate it. Hopefully more sooner than this was, and I promise that it'll pick up the pace soon and get a bit more intense. There's a hot call coming as well!**

**Please review and let me know your thoughts? Thanks!**

**xo Sarah**


	9. Team One

**I really am sorry. So so so sorry. There are no words to describe my sorriness. But there's a new chapter for you now and I hope you can all forgive me. It's not a short one either! I kinda like it!**

**DISCLAIMER: Nope still not mine.**  
**WARNING: Contains parties, family, and anger.**

**Enjoy!**

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_For Amanda - my sister, my friend and my enemy - you keep me on my toes but you never let me fall _

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The day of the family party arrives quickly. If you entered the Braddock household, you would find Sam and Jules frantically running around making last minute touch ups. The house is chaotic and the people are no better. Three of the four children are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their family. All are excited to have another party.

Only one thing would make this day better. That would be not having Team One on call. Since Team Three is technically supposed to be the ones on call, Team One is allowed to not spend their time at the station, but instead at Sam and Jules' place.

"Dad," Hailey says. "Why are you on call again?"

"Team Three's team leader was shot last night when they were out," Sam spares no details. "They've gotten leave for a day to make sure he's alright."

"But what about when Uncle Ed was shot? You guys still had to work," Hailey is confused. She's never fully understood how her parents' jobs work.

"But we had to catch the shooter," Sam tells her. "Team Three already got the shooter. They get time off, just like we did after we got him."

Hailey nods slowly, understanding it a bit more now, "When are they all coming?"

"Excited?" her father asks.

Hailey nods, "Of course! I'm always excited to have everyone over. And when it's about me? Well, that's even better!"

Sam laughs and pulls his daughter into a one armed hug. "I can't believe you're turning thirteen next week. I swear, just last week, you were a little baby. And just yesterday, we were celebrating your first birthday. Now thirteen? Jeez Hails, you gotta stop growing so fast. You're making me feel so old."

Hailey laughs, since that is almost exactly what her mother told her the other day, "But I still love you."

"Glad to hear it," Sam chuckles.

There's a knock on the front door and Hailey perks up. "Somebody here?" she screeches and runs to the door.

Sam watches his daughter run off excitedly. She may be turning thirteen, but she's still his little girl. She still gets excited for her birthday party and she still loves the entire family. She still cuddles with him and watches movies with him, even if she could do that with her friends. She still chooses her family a lot. She loves nobody more than Team One and her family.

"Aunt Megan!" she hugs the woman and pulls her in.

"Hailey Grace Braddock," Megan laughs, "what have I told you about growing? Thirteen already? You sure know how to make a woman feel old."

"You're not the only one," grins Hailey. "Mom and Dad feel old too."

"Oh yeah?" Megan laughs once more and grins up at Sam. "Well, I bet you twenty bucks that you get at least three more of those tonight."

"No way," Hailey shakes her head. "I will. And if I don't, you're gonna go and make everyone tell me that."

"Aha, your plan is foiled," Sam steps in. "Find another way to make money, don't use my kids Meg."

"Sorry Sammy," Megan smiles. "Where should I put the gifts?"

"Just in the corner, same as always," Sam tells her. "You're first here so just make yourself comfortable. You want a drink or something?"

Megan shakes her head, "No, I'm good for now, thanks."

"Whatever floats your boat," Sam shrugs.

Both Megan and Hailey turn to each other and grin, "Water!"

"What? Oh, water," Sam frowns. "The two of you and your whole 'water floats boats' thing. It gets annoying, you know that?"

"Course we do," Hailey smirks at him. "It's why we do it... But come on Dad, you still love us."

"Gotta say I do," he kisses his daughter's forehead and turns off in search of his wife.

"So what's going on in your life?" Megan asks the almost teenager.

"Nothing," Hailey frowns. "Absolutely nothing."

"Nothing? Really. Now, why do I find that so hard to believe? No friend drama? No cute boys? Really, nothing?"

Hailey purses her lips and tries to stop herself from speaking. She can do it, it's hard but she can stop herself from spilling the beans on everything. But Megan gives her one look and Hailey breaks, "Nothing? Okay fine... there's this new guy in my class. His name is Andrew and he's so cute and so nice. But my best friend, Jessie, likes him too. And she's acting like a total snob and a jerk and she's being so mean to me. I just don't know what to do. I've been friends with Jess since first grade. But Andrew is just..."

"See, I knew there was something," Megan says. "Well, I guess there's only one thing you can do. You have to decide what's more important - your friendship with Jessie or your crush on Andrew?"

"It's not that easy," Hailey tells her. "When you say it like that, I would be an idiot to pick Andrew over her. But it's gotten to the point where it's not even my crush on him, it's how she's acting about it. I mean, do I really want a friend like that?"

"I don't know Hails, do you?"

Hailey doesn't answer for two reasons. She doesn't have an answer, for one. And the other reason is that, at that moment, Ryan runs into the room, flanked by Olivia and Lucas. And a second later, the doorbell rings and Ed walks in with Sophie and Izzy.

"Hey," Ed grins at the room. "How are all of you today?"

"Great," a chorus comes from Hailey's younger siblings. Hailey is still sitting on the sofa with Megan, contemplating what was said.

After that, the crowds come quickly. After the Lanes, Greg shows up, followed by Spike, Natalie, and the Wordsworth family. Then, less than twenty minutes later, Hailey's aunts Jill and Darcy arrive with arms full of presents.

"What are all those?" Jules' eyes widen at the sight.

"Darce went to visit some guy in Alberta the other week and she met up with your friends out there," Jill explains. "Guess they talked to your family and she had to carry all these back with her."

"Oh my god," Jules sighs and rolls her eyes. "You're a trooper Darce. But, how come I didn't know about this Alberta trip?"

Darcy shrugs and Jules pulls both her and Jill to the kitchen before either gets another chance to speak. The room chuckles and everyone goes back to their conversations.

Megan stands up and clears her throat, gathering everyone's attention, "I have a question. Who here feels that Hailey turning thirteen makes them feel really old?"

Every hand in the room flew to the air and Hailey rolled her eyes, "There's no bet anymore Aunt Megan. Remember?"

"Oh, I remember," Megan nods. "I just wanted to have an answer."

Hailey sighs and excuses herself to the kitchen. She's expecting to find her mother with her aunts and is surprised to see her father in there as well. Darcy and Jill give her a weak smile and head back out to the family room.

"Everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah," Jules nods but Sam elbows her. "No. Not really, sweetie. I'm so sorry..."

"Sor - you got a hot call didn't you?" she figures it out.

Sam nods, "We really are sorry." He goes to hug her but Hailey pulls away.

"Don't apologize to me," she shakes her head. "Go tell Olivia and Lucas that their party is ruined. I've had plenty, I don't need more."

There's a sharpness in her tone that nobody expects. Not even she. And then she does something she doesn't understand - she runs out and up to her room. She slams the door shut and she can feel, even from this distance, everyone staring up the stairs. She doesn't go back out to apologize, not like she normally would.

From her room she can hear a faint, "Team One! Hot Call!"

She can hear the collective groans but the sure sounds of the cops in the room leaving. She thinks about it. That will leave only Aunt Jill, Aunt Darcy, Aunt Natalie, Aunt Sophie, Aunt Shelley, Uncle Wordy, and all the kids.

"Great party," she mutters to herself before she collapses on her bed.

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**I hope you didn't hate it! Please review? I mean it when I say that more reviews means a faster update.**


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